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Day One: Initial Impressions
Day Two: Initial Online Impressions
Day Three: Midpoint Update

To this point, my time with MLB 2K11 has been filled with many highs and lows. Thankfully, MLB 2K11’s My Player and Franchise offerings are deep, intriguing, and most of all, fun additions that had me enjoying every minute of this in-depth look at them.

My Player

Last year, MLB 2K10’s My Player mode was a very enjoyable first entry into Visual Concept’s baseball franchise. If the mode had a major flaw, it was that it was far to easy to breeze through the minors on the way to your MLB debut.

My Player mode in MLB 2K11 takes the framework from 2K10, and then polishes it up real nice. Advancement to the majors is now dependent on your ratings in several categories rather than just overall statistics like last year. For example, if you are a center fielder trying to make it to the bigs in your organization, a 60 speed rating is just not going to cut it, even if you are batting .400. The same goes for pitchers; don’t expect to get called up unless you get at least two of your pitches into the mid 70s.

The player-creation options are fairly deep. However, you will again have to look past some of 2K’s ugly graphical choices in this game -- several of my created players ended up looking like aliens as opposed to the real-world prospects I was modeling them after. There are some little details that are fun to play around with as well, such as selecting a potentially peculiar batting stance, and figuring out how much pine tar you want your bat and helmet to be coated with during games.

Players also earn different career options as they gain notoriety. This system is not nearly as deep as NBA 2K11’s postgame interview option, but if you have enough clout in an organization, you can perform such actions as demanding a trade, switching positions or griping for more playing time to your skipper.

I only have two small gripes with My Player. The first is that just like in MLB 2K10, there is no draft to enter your player into. You are able to select which team you would like to play for, or hit a button for the game to make a random team selection for you. It may seem like I’m splitting hairs as the random button is essentially a way to pretend that you were drafted, but I just feel like it would be much better for the immersion of the mode if you watched your player get selected in some sort of MLB Amateur Draft, much like what VC has done with the NBA 2K My Player mode.

My second issue with My Player is that unless you are playing on one of the higher difficulty levels, it is pretty darn easy. On All-Star I had no problem smashing the ball all over the park during my minor league career. The problem is that the skill points that can be used to upgrade attributes are given out like candy for every positive task you complete. Within my first 10 or so minor league games, I was able to average roughly 1,500 skill points per game, and I advanced to the majors within about six hours playtime. This may sound relatively short for newcomers to the series, but when compared to the 2-3 hour time investment to get to the majors in MLB 2K10, this was definitely a welcomed addition. For those looking for a more simulation-style experience with this mode, I suggest cranking up the difficulty level if you would like to stay in the minors for a while.

MLB 2K11’s My Player mode is very similar to last season's outing, and it does not have as many bells and whistles as some of the other similar modes out there. Even so, the fact remains that it is a heck of a lot of fun to play around with, and it will keep most sports gamers busy for months. This is hands down one of the most enjoyable career modes I have ever played in a sports game.

Franchise Mode

MLB 2K11'S Franchise mode, much like My Player mode, has not seen many significant overhauls when compared to MLB 2K10. You are still getting a very deep franchise interface complete with league and team headlines, Sabermetrics, weekly/monthly awards and the ability to control your organization's minor league teams, including Single-A. The dynasty interface is incredibly streamlined, making the navigation of any aspects of your virtual MLB season a breeze.

One major addition to the mode this year deals with how injuries are handled. The old injury system has been replaced this season with a progressive injury system. In addition to long-term injuries, players will now experience smaller injuries, like an an elbow bruise, that will initially require something like three days to heal. The game gives you a choice of whether or not you want to rest this player for a few days, place him on the DL or have him play through the injury. If the latter is chosen, you risk the chance of injuring the player even further, or possibly even causing him to have a chronic injury that keeps popping up during the season.

In theory this new injury system sounds like a phenomenal addition that can change the way injuries are handled in a video game. The problem is that in execution, the number of injuries you will experience on a weekly basis in your franchise is downright ridiculous. It does not matter whether or not you are simulating games or playing them, at least one player on my team was getting injured per week during the franchise I played for this review. Out of these injured players, many developed additional injuries as the year progressed. On top of that, these additional injuries were usually completely separate from the initial injuries they sustained and subsequently had to be put on the DL for.

With each month of my franchise that passed, the injuries continued to pile up. At one point, I even found myself with six of my starting position players sidelined with 15-plus day injuries before I hit the All-Star break. I'm not really sure if this is a bug, but I definitely think there is some type of tuning issue that 2K might need to work out via a patch. (There is also an injury frequency slider that is worth checking out to see if that helps.)

Simply put, injuries definitely happen during the course of a 162 game schedule, but the consistency with which players drop in MLB 2K11 is just not realistic. It's time to call up BALCO because the players in MLB 2K11 either need better trainers or some HGH.

And one big issue caused by the rash of injuries in Franchise mode is some very poor CPU lineup management. Early in my first season with the Detroit Tigers, I lost Austin Jackson and Brandon Inge to a broken shin and finger respectively. When I decided to let the CPU automatically adjust my lineups for these injuries, the results were mind bending. Magglio Ordonez was slated as my leadoff hitter, and Miguel Cabrera and V-Mart were hitting 2-3. It does not take Buster Olney to tell you how unrealistic this move is. Sadly, as more of my players were felled by the injury bug, the stranger the lineup decisions became when the CPU auto-organized my lineup.

However, the major bug in Franchise mode is that players do not fatigue as the season progresses. Or, to be more clear, if you play out every game, stamina does not play a part in your franchise. You can pitch Justin Verlander every game, and he will always start it with 100 percent stamina. But if you simulate games, then the stamina works correctly, and players tire accordingly. While this can be an incredibly cheesy way to play the game, a little user restraint should minimize the problem until it (hopefully) gets patched.

It is also worth noting that player progression seems to work well, and it was very rewarding watching a youngster like Casper Wells develop into a decently rated MLB player by the end of my first season. Older players regress at a fairly steady clip, and chronic injuries will carry over from year to year in a franchise and potentially affect overall ratings.

Simulation stats seem spot on, with only home run totals seeming low. In the two years of simulating I managed to complete, the most home runs hit in a single season was 34 by Miguel Cabrera. I did not notice any franchise-breaking statistical bugs or oddities in my time with the game mode either.

Outside of a couple issues mentioned previously, Franchise mode in MLB 2K11 is one of the best in the business. I enjoyed every hour I put into my budding Tigers dynasty, and I even enjoyed the revamped injury system until it decimated my team like a plague of locusts decimates a farmer's crops. Hopefully a patch is released soon to deal with the current problems in Franchise mode, and once it potentially becomes available I can see myself spending countless hours with this mode.

Final Thoughts

My Player mode and Franchise mode are definite high points in MLB 2K11, and they should make this game a must-buy for those who are hardcore fans of those modes. I enjoyed both of these modes so much during my review period with the game that it makes it far easier to look past some of the graphical deficiencies and gameplay quirks that I've spoken about in my past articles. Look for my formal review of MLB 2K11 tomorrow, along with my score of the game.